Page 85 of Queen of Spades

“Because I have an activity I know, for a fact, Anni Girl loves.” Not a damn person can accuse me of being a bad friend or packmate. I might have fucked him over three years ago, but I’m going to more than make it up to him tonight.

“Hey, baby,” I purr, lugging in the shitload of groceries.

“Did you bring me something edible?” She twists to face me with wide eyes. She’s sitting on the countertop, slathering peanut butter on bread. “It was thoughtful of the caretakers to stock the house with food, but outside of meat and casseroles, I couldn’t find crap. I actually had to settle for a peanut butter—no jelly—sandwich.”

I chuckle, dropping the bags on the table.

“And I even brought you a couple courting gifts.” Snatching up the bags with the ice cream, I aim for her and put them down next to her. She drops the bread and knife on the plate on her other side and turns to face me.

“I missed you.” Her golden brown eyes sparkle as she smiles up at me.

Kane stomps in with a bunch of shit, but I ignore him.

Annika licks her lips, and I growl as I shove my mouth to hers. Her hands tangle in my T-shirt as her caramel scent floods the air.

“Did you have fun last night?” I swipe my tongue over Ward’s bondmark and plant my forearms on either side of her thighs on the counter. She leans back, placing her palms behind her.

“Yup, now on to courting gifts.” She laughs. “You know I don’t need anything, but you opened the can of worms, so now I’m interested.”

I chuckle, fisting one of the bags and dropping it onto her lap.

“It’s cold.” She squeaks. “Ohmigod, you got me peanut butter cup ice cream. I love you so damn much.”

“And sandwich meat, stuff to make salads, fruit and veggies, and a whole shitload of sweet treats for once you start craving them again.”

She tosses the ice cream aside and pulls me to her with a hand in my shirt. “Best courting gift ever.”

Kane scoffs, stomping over with his load of groceries.

I chuckle as Anni gives me a quick kiss. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I’m pretty sure Kane has something extra special planned for you tonight too.”

“Really?” she asks, leaning around me to eye him.

The big fucker coughs, clearing his throat. “Yeah, if you’re open to it.”

He really should have more game.

He’s hot as fuck.

Now he just needs to learn to relax a little and go with the flow. If he can manage that, I don’t see any roadblocks to Annika claiming him, and I think we’ll all feel safer once she has her lovely band of psychos completely claimed. Well, three psychos and two princesses, then our pack will be complete.

I laugh to myself at the thought.

That’s really never going to get old. Not that I’ve got any problem with Cas, but he’s probably going to need to toughen up a little to fit in with the rest of us. Luckily, he comes from a ruthless bloodline. I have no doubts that he’ll step up when we need him.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kane

Annika—who I’m still having trouble thinking of her as—spends the rest of the day in the nest. I’ve never seen the nesting impulse play out in person, but it’s fucking cute.

I’m not sure if Grady is trying to give me an in with the little omega, or maybe he’s trying to pull one over on me. It’s impossible to tell.

I knock on the nest door. There’s no answer. I still let myself in because, apparently, I’m nothing if not committed to this plan. Striding over, I gently tug back the soft fabric since the curtains are down.

Annika is ass up, on her hands and knees, with her dress not covering one single bit of her luscious behind. Her face is buried under a pillow, and she has several blankets tossed over her back. It’s so bizarre that I do a double take, but my eyes continually travel back to the peek of her pussy.

“Knock, knock.” My cock throbs with the scent of her perfume. Maybe Grady was wrong about this being the perfect time to carry out this little adventure.

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